Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls

Review By Jessie King (Hadiksm Gaax)

October 2, 2024

Unbroken is a truth gathering of story from lived experience, an honour song for the families of Indigenous Women and Girls who have gone missing in Canada. This story looks at the incidence of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) which has gained momentum in recent years after much time hidden in the shadows and efforts to bury the truth. Sterritt leads the way in this autobiographical account of what is at stake for the most marginalized population who not only have less access to opportunity, but an increased risk of violence perpetuated by those in society who see their lives as less or even unworthy. Providing personal accounts of her life story, Sterritt introduces a world every Canadian needs to understand. Her words are a call to arms for change in providing honest accounts of homelessness, vulnerability, and the imposed shame blended with societal complicity towards life trajectories that leave many at the will of continued genocide.

Angela Sterritt is the person to write this story. From her life experience on the street as a youth navigating the treacherous histories of trauma imposed by violent colonization, Sterritt gives the reader ample opportunity to understand the significance of learning our shared histories. In a world that mistreated her, dismissed her as another insignificant Indigenous life, Sterritt uses her truthful storytelling in such a way that it feels like healing. Going beyond the missing and murdered, Sterritt exposes the reader to historical structures that have disempowered Indigenous women in their communities to such an extent that they have been fully dispossessed and left with nowhere to call home. In parallel, Sterritt celebrates the work of those who sought justice for Indigenous women suffering at the hands of discriminatory Indian Act legislation and implications of status loss for the average Canadian. It is a gentle introduction to the harms of assimilation.

Unbroken interrogates stories hiding in plain sight: efforts of the RCMP to disempower Indigenous women and girls, and the overt efforts of the justice system to further subjugate the most vulnerable in society. Here you will read accounts of not only Sterritt’s story, but the story of families who have lost their daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, mothers, and friends to violence and a mass coverup by the government, media, and justice system to avoid responsibility. These negative stereotypes resulting in the loss of life and further, the loss of ancestors, knowledge to be handed down, and intergenerational trauma are woven beautifully together in this true account. Sterritt gifts us with an account of severe bullying, alcoholism, drug-use, homelessness, and being blamed for making poor decisions resulting in the mistreatment she so generously walks the reader through. An historical account of not only lived experience but a portrayal of how missing and murdered women were placed in a position of not being a priority paints a grim picture that all of Canada and all Canadians must reconcile with.